Even the Financial Times wrote about morning pages and they, too, supplied incorrect instructions. To be fair, Julia Cameron, who gave the world morning pages as part of ‘The Artist’s Way‘, wrote: “There is no wrong way to do morning pages”. But this line is usually highlighted without referring to the rest of Cameron’s instructions. ‘You cannot do it wrong’ refers to content, quality, results and effects of the practice; What you’re putting on the page doesn’t matter. But how you’re doing morning pages is crucial! …

When it comes to staying sane, focused and efficient, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern knows what to do. But she admits it took her a long time to realize you don’t need to feel guilty when taking the space and time to look after yourself and your mental health.

“When we’re in a responsible role, we can have this idea that it’s somehow selfish to take time out. People have an expectation you work every moment that you have. And for the most part, many of us do. …

Gioachino Rossini, the famous Italian composer of operas like The Barber of Seville loved drinking coffee. But he became aware his body would soon get used to the caffeine, with the happy-drug effects wearing off after prolonged, constant consumption. He found this would happen after about 15 to 20 days of regular coffee intake.

It’s Rossini’s good fortune that this was precisely the time he needed to write an entire opera. Well, that’s according to the French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac, who wrote about Rossini’s coffee habits in Traité des excitants modernes.

In his article ‘Music in the…

Because the silence of a writer not writing is among the most deafening, here is a 10-minute writing prompt to get started. I’m offering you 4 different, easy ways to go about it.

First of all, set your kitchen timer (or the timer on your phone if you must) for 10 minutes. This is important! The reason to set a timer is explained very well in Pat Pattison’s book ‘Songwriting without boundaries’:

“Soon, during your timed writing, something like this will happen: Your writing will start to roll, diving, plunging, heading directly for the soft pink and blue glow below…

Moving house in one’s home country or going on holiday evokes homesickness in up to seventy-five per cent of us, research says. Sometimes a mild bout of it may even take us by surprise when only making a short trip to a nearby place!

So moving overseas is definitely a risk factor for homesickness, heiweh, saudades de casa, mal du pays, sıla özlemi. Leaving behind all that is familiar and shaping a new life, a complicated mix of feelings is unleashed.

Apart from the excitement and a sense of adventure, you may feel grief and depression, loneliness and sadness. …

A passion in the life of many keen hikers is Munro-bagging, freely translated as ‘scoring Munro peaks’. This can only be done in Scotland (UK).

It’s an excellent excuse to hike the most beautiful corners of Scotland’s “Highlands and Islands”. Munro-bagging enjoys an ever-increasing popularity. The number of people who have completed all the 282 peaks has tripled over the past two decades. Munro-bagging offers challenges at every level of hiking and climbing.

Anyone who aspires to — one day —planting a flag on the snowy peak of Mount Everest may remain unimpressed by the madness Munro scoring can bring…

Most people know Dr. Anthony Fauci for his current role in the Coronavirus Task Force under Donald Trump. As the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, he has is the top civil servant when it comes to US health and immunology. He’s about to serve his 7th President.

There’s an equally popular and persistent myth about New Zealand/Aotearoa: that the South Island is more beautiful than the North Island. Perhaps it’s because of the Lord of the Rings movies. Or it could be because many European immigrants initially settled on the South Island in the 1950s and wrote lyrical letters home about the beauty of their new home.

Not that the South Island isn’t beautiful. But the North Island! And especially the area where I live: Northland. It’s where the country best expresses its true nature, culture and atmosphere. And call me biased, but the more northerly you…